School Climate Survey

Parent Version Revised

The Parent Version Revised consists of 41 descriptive statements about prevailing school conditions, (e.g., "At my child's school, parents have a great deal of confidence in the school staff"). Parents respond on a five-point Likert scale ranging from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree,” depending on how well they think that the statement describes their child's school.

Scoring

Respondents answer on a five-point Likert scale rating their perceptions of various aspects of the school climate.

The responses are coded in the following manner: Strong agree = 5, Agree = 4, Not sure = 3, Disagree = 2, Strongly disagree = 1. Items 2, 12, 19, 29, and 39 are reverse scored after the frequency analyses on individual items have been performed, but before means of the variables are computed or any inferential analysis completed.

These items are reverse scored because agreement with them reflects negative opinions of school climate. A positive view of the climate should elicit disagreement with these items.

All the variables are scored in the positive direction: The higher the score on the variable, the greater the amount of that quality that parents perceive the school as having. The highest possible mean score on a variable is 5.0. The lowest possible mean score is 1.0.

For example, if Academic Focus has an overall mean of 4.5, this means that the parents believe that teachers place a very strong emphasis on academics cultivated in an atmosphere of respect and trust. (See Table 1 for a description of the variables and the items that define them.)

Table 1: School Climate Variables, Parent Version Revised

Variable

Definition

Reliability

Academic Focus(Items: 18, 23, 28, 37)

The emphasis that teachers place on student learning and achievement in an atmosphere of respect and trust

0.80

Achievement Motivation(Items: 1, 5, 7, 29, 41)

The extent to which students at the school believe that they can learn and are willing to learn

0.79

Principal Caring and Sensitivity(Items: 6, 9, 11, 15, 20, 22, 27)

The extent to which the principal shows consideration for the students, parents, and school staff, and cares about their needs

0.94

Collaborative Decision Making(Items: 12, 24, 36, 39)

The involvement of parents, staff, and students in the decisions affecting the school

0.75

Parent Involvement(Items: 14, 16, 19, 25)

Frequency of parent participation in school activities

0.68

SchoolBuilding(Items: 2, 26, 31, 33, 38)

The appearance of the school building

0.84

School-Community Relations(Items: 8, 10, 13, 30, 32)

The support and involvement of the community in the life of the school

0.86

Student-Teacher Relations(Items: 3, 4, 17, 21, 34, 35, 40)

The level of caring, respect, and trust that exists between students and teachers in the school